Amazon KDP Vs. Gumroad: A Review Of Selling Your Books

Which is better? Or are they two different things?

I have self-published four books on Amazon, three of which have become #1 bestsellers. I also self-published my first book/resource on Gumroad. Over the last few weeks, I have wondered which road to self-publishing is better?

For those who want to self-publish books, I think it is essential to share my experience with both sites so far and whether or not one is better or if they might even be two separate things altogether.

In today’s post, I endeavor to do just that. I want to share my experience and help you choose the best road for you to take on your self-publishing journey.

Amazon KDP Self-Publishing

I have been self-publishing on Amazon KDP since 2019. I have self-published four books, three of which have become #1 bestsellers. During this time, I have over 6,000 downloads and purchases of my book.

However, all those downloads and purchases haven’t amounted to much income. It wasn’t until recently that I started to make around $70 to $100 a month. However, for the first couple of years, I made very little.

All that to say, there are some positives and negatives to self-publishing on Amazon that I think it is important to share as you make your decision.

The Good

I believe there are many positive things about self-publishing on Amazon. It is by far one of the best places to self-publish your books because of the good things they have to offer.

1. Huge built-in audience. Amazon gets a tone of traffic, and if you can break into the steady stream of people coming into the website, you can sell a lot of books. But it takes work and sacrifice on your part.
2. It is established for selling books. People go to Amazon to buy books, read them on their Kindles, and return for more. Self-publishing here will give you a lot of opportunities.
3. Self-publish digital, paperback, and hardcover books. You can self-publish three different formats of books. This is amazing as an author. I remember the first time I got my first book at my door in paperback. I was floored. It was amazing. And a lot of people do still buy physical books.

These three good things make a difference. There are a lot of authors who have found tremendous success by publishing on Amazon. Heck, I have to get books into the hands of readers. And it has helped me in other areas of my writing too.

The Bad

While I have just painted a picture of sunshine and butterflies, there are some frustrating things about publishing with Amazon. In this section, I want to share some of my frustrations.

1. You won’t make a lot of money right away. This is the flat truth. Most authors I have connected with have confirmed their first book lost money mainly because they don’t have tens of thousands of followers.
2. You can fall flat on your face too. Many writers have self-published on Amazon and haven’t sold a single book. They fall on their face and give up. This can be a huge setback to an author’s journey.
3. Amazon takes their share. Amazon takes 30% or 70% of your profits with each book. The problem with this is that the average Amazon reader seems pretty cheap. If they aren’t on your list or connected to your writing, they will want your book as affordable.

A Few Other Notes

Lastly, I want to note a few other things about Amazon KDP. These are important to remember when creating a book and self-publishing there.

1. Amazon KDP interface is easy to use. It is easy to create everything you need to sell your book there. Sure, there are a few different nuances that can cause hiccups. But, for the most part, it is straightforward.
2. Amazon is in ultimate control. And this sucks sometimes. When it comes to updating books, editions, or anything else, they have some strict rules, which is annoying. I get why they do it, but there isn’t a person to talk through these issues. Just a help center ticket. So lame.
3. Amazon reviews can be rough sometimes. Because people make snap purchases and don’t read your descriptions or buy things without thinking, the readers will beat you up if they don’t like your book. There isn’t a lot of in-between. They either love you or hate you.

Overall, I will keep self-publishing on Amazon. Especially now that I have established myself there and my process for publishing books. But it isn’t the easiest place to be when you are first starting.

Gumroad Self-Publishing

Okay, this is potentially premature, but I will do it anyway. This last week, I published my first product on Gumroad. And it was pretty easy to do. So far, I haven’t made any money on it, but I have found that it is getting downloads.

Over the last few weeks, I have been running into more and more people who publish products on Gumroad. Especially writers here on Medium. A few people I have downloaded products from so far are Burk, Kelly Eden, Ash Jurberg, and Hudson Rennie.

It’s clear that this is an excellent place for self-publishing content. And, it is an easy option for those who are just starting. So, I thought I would share what I am learning about it.

The Good

There are some great things about self-publishing on Gumroad. It might be an excellent place for people to start before trying a more traditional route for self-publishing.

1. No barriers to entry. Gumroad probably reviews our products, but it isn’t like Amazon, who will tell you no when they don’t like your content format. You can create something, uploaded it, create your sales page, and hit publish.
2. Gumroads fees are low. Gumroad only takes 9% up to your first $1,000 of sales. That is a far cry less than the 30% to 70% that Amazon takes. And their portion goes down with the more you sell.
3. There is a discovery section. This means people on Gumroad can discover your products without you having to work to promote them. This is especially helpful when you are starting. I have had more views and sales from social media sharing than in the discovery section.

Overall, Gumroad is meant for those of us who have tight budgets at first. Yet, many people are making good money self-publishing books and products on Gumroad, so it isn’t only for the budget author.

The Bad

Again, things aren’t only sunshine and butterflies here too. There are some glaring issues with some of the content found on this site, and it can be easy to be part of the problem.

1. Products are unfinished. While they are helpful, some products aren’t very well polished. They have glaring errors in them. They aren’t formatted well. And while you might pay for some, it feels as though someone wrote it in a day and put it up on the website. Because of this, it is easy to think this is okay. It’s not.
2. No automatic sales. Get their algorithm to sell your book on Amazon, so you start seeing automated sales. As far as I can tell, there isn’t any of this on Gumroad. So you need to work for your sales with promotion. If you don’t like to do this, you might not sell anything.
3. It doesn’t only sell books. You can create courses, capture emails, and create posts here, both good and bad. It's suitable for people who want to sell a lot of things. Not so great for people who only want to publish books.

A Few Other Notes

Self-publishing on Gumroad is an entirely new thing to me. There is more for me to learn. However, I do think there are a few other things to note.

1. This is a good place if you want to create other products and books. I used Podia to collect emails, sell digital products, and a course. I’m probably going to ditch Podia and move on to Gumroad based on cost and ease of use.
2. It has the potential to make you a lot of money. Recently, I saw that Niharikaa Kaur Sodhi had had success selling on the platform with her products, and I think she is a great example to follow as authors look to move into new spaces.

Final Thoughts

I don’t think there is any correct answer on this one. I think you can easily use both platforms to self-publish, but in different ways. I am going to move to a hybrid model for my writing.

Amazon KDP has its place for the devotionals and more traditional books that I self-publish. It is an excellent place for me to make passive income and create things that are super helpful for people in my faith writing.

Gumroad will be the platform where I will be able to help other writers. There is a tremendous upside to being able to share what I am learning with others and help them self-publish their books.

What is your best fit?

I honestly think you could do either platform. I do believe that Gumroad has some more immediate opportunities for making money. Though, you will have to work pretty hard at it.

If you can sacrifice a little upfront with your self-publishing efforts, then Amazon KDP might be your place. Being willing to take a loss at first will help you make money later.

If you use either of these platforms to self-publish, share your experiences in the comments below to help others!

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J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon who loves helping people grow in their faith and help writers become authors. You can connect with him on Medium, his website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Ko-fi!

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